ABOUT HFST
About Us
The Harting Farm Swim Team (HFST) was established in 1989 by Linda and Bob Dehn with the help of Carolyn Burns. The team was developed to provide the community a safe environment in which to pursue an interest in competitive swimming. We encourage good sportsmanship, individual integrity, and teamwork.
We are a member of the GASL (Greater Annapolis Swim League). There are currently 20 summer swim teams in GASL. All pools of teams in GASL are within 15 miles of Annapolis, Maryland. Within GASL there are 4 summer swimming divisions: A, B, C, and D. Team records each season determine whether teams move up/down or stay in their current swim division.
HFST is currently in the B division
Coaches & Team Manager
Laura Ainsworth, Head Coach
Sr. Assistant Coach Jack Alperstein. Jr. Assistant Coaches for summer 2021 will be Sam Bertinatti, Zoe Burke, Julian Ainsworth, and Emilio Guerra.
Dianne Jones, Team Manager
About Our Pool
The Harting Farm Pool is a 6-lane Olympic style pool. It is located behind the clubhouse and overlooks one of the 3 community ponds. There is a separate children's wading pool for children 6 and under. Picnic tables with umbrellas and reclining chaise lounges and chairs surround the pool. The pool house includes restrooms, showers, and changing facilities. The property outside the pool area has a playground open space for other activities.
Email us or call us at (610) 764-1878 if you have further questions regarding the Harting Farm Swim Team
HOW LONG IS THE SWIM SEASON?
Swim Team practice begins in late May, with meets starting in early/mid June. All meets take place during the summer months of June and July.
IS MY CHILD ELIGIBLE TO BE ON THE SWIM TEAM?
For a child to be eligible to participate on the Harting Farm Swim Team, he/she needs to be able to:
swim unassisted for 25 meters (any form/stroke)
float on back unassisted for 1 minute
WHEN ARE THE PRACTICES?
See the "Schedule" tab above.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD MY CHILD GO TO PRACTICE?
The more your child goes to practice the more improvement they will see in themselves.
WHAT SHOULD MY CHILD BRING TO SWIM PRACTICE?
Your child should bring the following to swim practice:
Swimsuit - please no 2 pieces for girls
Swim cap - optional
Goggles - easier to see out of & protects the eyes
Water bottles - important to stay hydrated
WHAT CAN I AS A PARENT DO TO HELP THE TEAM?
The Swim Team is completely made up of VOLUNTEERS and new help is always appreciated. Meets are a great place to volunteer as lots of help is NEEDED. Especially for home meets. See the volunteers page.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A SWIM MEET?
A swim meet is a competition between two or more teams. HFST participates in two types of swim meets:
Dual Meet - competition between two teams. We participate in 6 of these throughout the season.
Championship Meets - many teams competing for individual or team titles. We participate in three championship meets: Silver, Bronze and Gold. Based on the swimmers performance throughout the Dual meets will depend on what championship meet they participate in.
WHAT SHOULD MY CHILD BRING TO A SWIM MEET?
Your child should bring the following to a swim meet:
A towel (or two)
Sunscreen
Water
Sharpe - to write your swimmer's events down
Goggles - also a spare pair just in case a strap breaks
Something to do between events
A blanket or chairs
HOW DO SWIM MEETS WORK?
Your child will be informed when to be at the pool (this is usually done at practice, or via email / posting on our website). This time is typically 15 minutes prior to warm-ups. It is important to have your child at the pool on time. This allows your child to confirm that they are entered into the expected event(s) and gives your child time to warm-up/swim before the start of the meet. Each child is usually put into three events. It is VERY important that your child stay until they have swam all of their events - ALL swimmers MUST check with the Head Coach before leaving. Meets are long, hot and tiring. Each event may have multiple heats and each heat may use multiple lanes of the pool. See below for clarification:
Events: They are what each individual swimmer is swimming. They are numbered. Swimmers may swim 4 individual or 3 individual & 1 relay per meet.
Heats: Heats are seeded according to swimmers' best official times to date and there may be several heats per event.
Lanes: Each swimmer will have a lane number assigned. For example if freestyle is event 11 and your child is in heat 2 lane 5 on swimmers hand write down 11 / 2 / 5
ARE PRACTICES AND/OR MEETS EVER CANCELLED?
Yes. Practice and/or meets may be cancelled due to thunder/lightening or hard rain where the bottom of pool cannot be seen. Additionally, if the pool has to close for a mechanical or other unforeseen reason, practice will be cancelled. Please check your email if you are not sure whether or not there will be practice or a meet, we will email the information.
HOW MANY EVENTS CAN MY CHILD SWIM IN?
Each swimmer can participate in a maximum of four events per meet.
WHERE CAN WE PURCHASE OUR TEAM SWIMSUIT?
The HFST swimsuit can be purchased at Cy's Swimwear.
WHAT IF MY CHILD IS UNABLE TO ATTEND A SWIM MEET?
HFST now uses a software application to keep track of swimmers and the events that they will be swimming. Parents will have the responsibility to sign in and out their swimmer(s) through the software.
WHAT IF I HAVE A QUESTION/CONCERN ABOUT THE SWIM MEET EVENT(S) IN WHICH MY CHILD IS SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE?
All questions or concerns regarding what a swimmer is scheduled to swim in at a meet need to be addressed with the coaches. The coaches are with the swimmers daily and know the swimmer's abilities.
WHEN CAN I EXPECT TO SEE THE MEET LINEUP?
Meet line ups must be made by each team, switched with opposing team, put in swim program, re-evaluated, fixed again, etc. Sometimes this process is still taking place Friday evenings prior to meets because of swimmer scratches, illnesses, etc. Meet lineups may not be finalized until late Friday evening after which time the meet program will be emailed out to swimmers and posted on the website.
WHEN WILL MEET RESULTS BE DISTRIBUTED?
Meet results will be distributed as soon as possibly after the meet depending on availability of League Representatives.
WILL MY CHILD RECEIVE RIBBONS FOR PARTICIPATING IN A MEET?
Meet ribbons will be in the swimmers mailboxes on Monday or Tuesday after each meet. The league supplies 1st - 4th place. HFST supplies 5th and 6th place as well as best times ribbons. The ribbons are given for top 6 overall in each age event, not each age heat. These need to be printed out and filed separately.
Harting Farm Swim Team Registration
Harting Farm Swim Team registration for the 2021 swim season will take place ONLINE ONLY.
Online registration will be open March 24, 2021 and be open until May 19, 2021.
Late registrations will not be accepted this summer.
Swimmers must be able to swim unassisted any stroke for 25 meters & float on back unassisted for 1 minute to join our swim team.
2021REGISTRATION PRICE PER SWIMMER
As always we welcome and need our outside members. Please keep in mind that outside registration is first come/first served. Although it typically is not a problem we do have limits on how many swimmers we will accept. So, if you know someone who is interested in swimming who did not swim last year please pass on this information.
Type Price
Harting Farm Residents (and Pool Members) $125
Non-Harting Farm Residents $135
A $10 discount per child will automatically be deducted from amount due when registering more than one child. In order to receive the discount, click on “Add Another Registration” on the Review Cart and Checkout Page and Active Website.
SWIMSUIT FITTINGS & PURCHASING
TBD
Harting Farm Swim Team - Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers are essential for swim team and the swim meets and team functions cannot happen without volunteers. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support.
12 POINTS if your family has more than one swimmer and 10 POINTS if your family has only one swimmer (1 point = roughly 1 hour)
ALL volunteer commitments for the season must be made online before the first meet in order for swimmers to participate.
Once commitments are made it is YOUR responsibility to find a replacement and notify the volunteer coordinator of change if you are unable keep/fulfill your job.
You must check in at the start of the meet and fully complete the job to receive volunteer credits.
If volunteer commitments are not fulfilled, then your swimmer WILL NOT be able to participate in meets or team functions.
Families will be able to donate specific items for the concession stand to fulfill two volunteer points. There will be a sign up and drop off date. Please note that items need to be dropped off at the Harting Farm Clubhouse during practice times. A date for drop off has not been announced yet.
**Swimmers WILL NOT be able to participate in meets or team functions** until arrangements are made to fulfill obligation through the volunteer coordinator.
For those interested in stroke and turn or starter positions, you will need to attend one training class (per year volunteering). The date and time of the training class will be posted once coordinated.
If you have a question about being a volunteer, please contact us.
CONCESSIONS
Concession Coordinator: This person will assist the concession coordinator as needed for home meets and Fun Fridays.This person will determine what needs to be purchased for the concession stand for each home meet. She/he will provide the buyer with lists of what to buy. Additionally, they will run & supervise concession stand during home meets, as well as help purchase food for Fun Friday events.
Concession Buyer: This person will assist the concession coordinator as needed for home meets and Fun Fridays.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
This person will be responsible for finding volunteers to fulfill each position. They will input & monitor volunteers for volunteer requirements fulfilled. They will check in volunteers & provide badges during meets for all volunteers. They will work with the Fun Friday Coordinator/ Spirit coordinator for volunteer sign ups for all Fun Friday activities and the end of the year party.
TECH REP
This person is responsible to input & exchange HF meet line up with opposing team per league rules. They will seed all home meets & exchange meet with opposing team. They will work with coaches, team rep & scorekeeper to coordinate all meet line ups per GASL rules. They will post online for HF members. They will set up registration for the season.
SET UP/TAKE DOWMN MEET COORDINATOR
Coordinates volunteers responsible for setting up and breaking down all home meets per GASL rules & HF community requirements.
PER MEET VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
Starter: This person will announce each race over the loud speaker, They are responsible for starting each race. They will work with Lead official to run home meets. Training required.
Head Timer: For home meets only, this person will operate timers as back up for a lane timer who misses a start. This person is to hold a pre-meet meeting with all timers to instruct timers on how to use the timer.
Scorekeeper: This person electronically enters meet results into the computer database during home & away meets. Training required.
Ribbon Writer: Upon receipt of the official results from the scorekeeper, this person affixes labels to the appropriate ribbons.
Sheet Runner: This person will collect time sheets and DQ slips from poolside timers/ stroke & turn judges and deliver to the Scorekeeper.
Lane Organizer/Kid Finder (4): These people line up swimmers for their races. They will use the meet program to confirm that all swimmers for each EVENT get seated in proper position upon arrival at Clerk of Course area. Also, they will be responsible for attempting to find HFST missing swimmers (i.e. Swimmers not paying attention to when they are supposed to line up).
Lane Timers (number required depends on number of lanes at the meet): These people will meet with Head Timer before the meet begins and will be assigned a lane to time swimmers. They will be required to start & stop watch, record times & clear watches per GASL requirements. (# of lanes x 3/ # of competing teams)
Concessions (4): These people will help set up, work, & take down concession stand during all home meets. They will assist in sales and all aspects of running concession stand.
Grill Master: This person will man the concession stand grill for a home meet.
Before meet Set up: These people will help set up lane lines, tables, chairs, tents, umbrellas and trash cans for home meets. They must arrive 60 minutes prior to warm ups beginnings for swimmers. They will assist set up/take down coordinators in all aspects of setting up for a home meet.
After Meet Clean-up (2): These people will help clean up lane lines, tables, chairs, umbrellas and trash cans & reset pool per community requirements after a home meet. They will assist set up/take down coordinators in all aspects of cleaning up after a home meet.
Harting Farm Swim Team Schedule
The Harting Farm Swim Team holds practice Monday - Friday at the Harting Farm Clubhouse pool facility. The practice and meet schedule for the 2021 season is listed below.
2021 PRACTICE SCHEDULE (AFTERNOON PRACTICES START JUNE 1 AND CONTINUE UNTIL THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL).
June 1 - June 18 Starting June 21
Group A: Ages 8 & Under: 4:00 - 4:40 PM 8:00 - 8:40 AM
Group B: Ages 9 - 10: 4:50 - 5:30 PM 8:50 - 9:20 AM
Group C: Ages 11 - 12: 5:40 - 6:20 PM 9:30 - 10:10 AM
Group D: Ages 13 & Up: 6:30 - 7:10 PM 10:20 - 11:00 AM
2021 MEET SCHEDULE
Saturday meets START at 8:30 AM
WARMUPS begin at 7:30 AM (home) or 7:45 AM (away)
Dual Meet Schedule
TBD
Championship Meet Schedule
TBD